Seven Vignettes in The Age of Fascism and Other Poems || Rohith

Seven Vignettes in the Age of Fascism

1
logic
is a lost puppy
in sinuous jungles 
of rage. 


2
a trishul
darted into throat 
of a slogan:


a metaphor for our age. 


3
the writer just started 
writing about ‘peace’ 
in his notebook. 


doorbell rang


gunshot


death.


4
green light turned red
cameras switched off
police withheld
lights put out


a massacre begins


5
"what kind of times are these, when
a talk about trees is almost a crime
because it implies silence about so many horrors?"
wrote brecht.


but who is silent in these times
and who is not! I reflect,
 who is making all this racket! 


6
the tightened fist 
of dissent 
is a bird that flies
against the winds
in untimely rains 


to reach its nest.


7
a telephone ringing forever
in labyrinths of 
time:


another metaphor for our age. 


We and They


They oppress. We protest. They police. 


We create history. They write textbooks. We go to their schools. 


They call us enemies. We fight with ourselves. They televise our fight. 


We die. They write news. We buy their newspapers.


They tell us what to speak. We speak their language. They make our thoughts. 


We make art. They market it. We see art becoming cash. 


They invent psychiatry. We become depressed. They make drugs.


We labour. They profit. We get wages. 


They pollute the earth. We catch diseases. They build hospitals.


We grow food. They belch with full stomachs. We starve. 


They sell bombs. We die in wars. They celebrate patriotism. 


We question. They give us God. We pray for answers.



What do poets do? 


What do poets do?
They give talks  
against state.


What do poets do?
They supply arms
to guerrilla forces.


What do poets do?
They provoke masses 
to rise and say slogans. 


What do poets do?
They plan a strategy
for an insurrection. 


What do poets do?
oh, I forgot
they write poems

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